Henry Burris honoured to be a ‘Flying Wildcat’ for a day

Hamilton Tiger-Cats' quarterback Henry Burris passes against the B.C. Lions during the first half of a CFL football game in Vancouver, B.C., on Friday August 30, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Photograph by: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
, Canada.com

HAMILTON, Ont. — Poet, doctor and soldier, Col. John McCrae is immortalized in Guelph, his birthplace, where his family home and a memorial garden are tourist attractions for those seeking a connection with the man who wrote, possibly, the best known poem in the world.

“In Flanders fields, the poppies blow, between the crosses, row on row,” is the opening couplet of the poem, Flanders Fields, familiar to veterans, schoolchildren, their parents and grandparents in Remembrance Day services held across Canada every year. They were penned by McCrae, in 1915, for a Canadian soldier and close friend killed at the Battle of Ypres in the First World War.

Coincidentally, vintage poppy-coloured uniforms will be worn by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for this afternoon’s game against the B.C. Lions in Guelph, a game which has an historical military theme to it, irrespective of the usual football references to bombs, blitzes, warriors and other inappropriate military analogies.

“What we do on the field, they call it ‘war’ but, man, it’s only a game,” said Ticats quarterback Henry Burris. “To honour people who actually put their lives in harm’s way for us, for our protection and security, it just goes to show you that it’s the ultimate sacrifice.”

Burris, modelling Friday one of the retro Hamilton Flying Wildcats uniforms his team will be wearing for their game at Alumni Stadium, on the University of Guelph campus, joked earlier that the colour combination of red and white — with black and white striping across the shoulders — reminds him of the Calgary Stampeders. He has a little experience with the team, having played for the Stamps for 10 of his 15 Canadian Football League seasons.

“I told some of my teammates like (former Stampeders) Brian Bulcke, Sam Scott and Brandon Isaac, ‘Man, it kind of looks like we’re in Calgary again,” Burris said. “But it’s truly an honour to be representing the 1943 Flying Wildcats, for their contributions to mankind, and Canadians, and for helping to win the war and the Grey Cup on top of that. Man, that’s a lot to ask. But they put it all together with their dedication. The best way we can honour them is to get a victory.”

The Wildcats won the 31st Grey Cup game at Toronto’s Varsity Stadium in 1943 with a 23-14 win over the Winnipeg RCAF. They were officially recognized as the Flying Wildcats because a number of servicemen in the Royal Canadian Air Force also played on the team. Paul Peterson, who played both ways, offence and defence, and family members of the ’43 Flying Wildcats who have passed away will be in attendance at the game.

While throwback uniforms have become almost commonplace in professional sports, it’s left to wonder whether the athletes themselves actually are engaged in the history beyond the fashion element.

Burris might be a little different, not one of those existing somewhere in another world, with his headphones constantly on after practice and his eyes locked on his cellphone. He flashes a big smile and sings out greetings to strangers he’s never met before, as if he’s trying to be both an athlete and a regular human being.

He’s also willing to go beyond the usual football discourse and reveal himself, as he did when talking about the Wildcats. You see, his father, Henry Burris Sr., was a military man who served in the U.S. army in the Vietnam War. It could explain why Henry Jr. is in the habit of answering questions with a “Yes sir” or “no sir,” even though the Ticat quarterback is a 38-year-old civilian.

“I asked around, talked to different people in the organization about the reason for the occasion,” he explained. “I’ve been reading up on them as well. I had to do my research. I grew up in an armed forces family, with my father serving after getting drafted. Any time I can learn more about people who’ve put their lives on the line for their country, especially when they play football, I want to know. When you win a Grey Cup, you become immortal. Your legacy will live on. Here we are, 70 years later, honouring a team which has given so much to this city, this province and this beautiful country.”

If, as Burris suggests, the Tiger-Cats are to honour their predecessors with a victory, they must get the offence in gear earlier than they did on Aug. 30 in a 29-26 loss to the Lions at BC Place. They made a game of it but it came too late.

With Lions linebacker Solomon Elimimian out (hamstring), that should be beneficial to the Ticats’ run game, and Burris said his team will attempt to pound the ball more in the hands of tailback C.J. Gable.

“They definitely lose a great player, a great impact player without Solomon,” Burris said. “We had a great opportunity in Vancouver. But when you get out of the gate that slow (no first downs in the first quarter), you lose the close ones like that. We definitely want to utilize C.J. more. We’re definitely at our best when he gets more touches.”

It’s an easy, and overused, military metaphor to suggest the guys up front need to win the battle in the trenches for Gable to advance.

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